Articulation Agreements

The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences has articulation agreements with Cuyahoga Community College and other area institutions for those students who complete an Associate of Arts degree; several fields apply. The articulation agreement enables qualified students to earn a baccalaureate degree in approximately two years of full-time study and facilitates the transfer of credits. Interested students should contact their adviser in the CLASS Advising Center, at 216-687-5040.

Credit by Examination

Departments within the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences can determine if credit by examination is available for a specific area of study. The subject material to be covered, the method of examination, the minimal acceptable score/grade for passing, and the number of semester credit hours to be granted will be determined within the academic departments. Credit by Examination forms are available in the CLASS Advising Center which is located in Chester Building, Room 279.

Distance and eLearning

During the academic year, the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences offers some of its regular courses using distance or eLearning. One form of this type of technology is the use of "smart-classrooms" which are located on campus and which permit the interactive video transmission of course lectures (IVDL). Other courses use eLearning, in which some or all of the course material is delivered via the Web. Some eLearning courses meet on campus but use Web supplements; others may require one or more on-campus meetings; others can be completed entirely online. Students should contact the department for information on requirements for specific courses. Courses using these technologies are identified as IVDL or eLearning on CampusNet. All courses delivered in these ways are part of the college's regular course offerings and will fulfill the appropriate university, college, or major-field requirements.

Independent Study

All of the departments of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences can offer credit for independent study conducted under the supervision of a member of the college's faculty. A student should contact the chairperson of the appropriate department or a specific faculty member to inquire about an independent study.

Independent study is arranged by contract with the permission of a specific professor. This contract includes specifications about the quantity and quality of work expected and semester credit hours to be granted. In general, an independent study is intended for scholarly work not included in a department's formal course offerings, and should be offered only when a formal course is not available.

Although neither the university nor the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences has a limit on the number of independent study courses which may be applied toward graduation, individual academic departments can limit the number which may be applied toward the major and/or minor.

Internships

Many departments within the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences provide students with internship opportunities which will place students into actual work settings that may be related to a student's educational and career interests. Knowledge and skills learned in the classroom setting may be applied to the work situation. Likewise, the experience gained in hands-on activities may be brought back into the classroom and complement the academic component of course work. The academic department retains the right to determine if an internship will be available, requirements for eligibility, number of credits to be granted, and the quantity and quality of work to be completed for a passing grade. For information on the availability of internships, a student should contact the chairperson of the appropriate academic department.

Off-Campus Course Offerings

The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences offers several different off-campus formats. The college offers courses to students in several off-campus locations including the Cleveland State West Center in Westlake. These off-campus course offerings demonstrate the college's commitment to improving student access to the educational resources of the university.

PSEOP (Post Secondary Education Opportunities Program) permits qualified high-school students to take college-level courses. PSEOP students have enrolled in courses in areas such as art history, early Western art, calculus, English composition, and English literature. (For additional information, contact the CLASS Advising Center at 216-687-5040.)

Study Abroad

Study-abroad opportunities are available through various departments and programs within the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences and are coordinated by the Center for International Services and Programs (216-687-3910) and the Office of the Dean of the College. The academic departments which offer study-abroad opportunities include, but are not limited to: Art, History, Modern Languages, Music, Political Science and Social Work.

The study-abroad opportunities have provided Cleveland State University students with a wide variety of experiences, including archaeological field work on the Mayan civilization, culture and language studies in Mexico and Spain, historical studies of WWI battlefields in Europe, social welfare issues in Germany, and contemporary issues in India. In addition, new study abroad programs are being developed with universities in Korea, France, and Turkey.

Also, the Center for International Services and Programs encourages and assists students and other members of the university community in arranging programs of study at foreign institutions in countries such as Brazil, France, Germany, and Poland, as well as other less formal experiences abroad.

The coordinator of the center can assist with financial-aid arrangements, recommend appropriate programs (generally those affiliated with American universities from which credit is transferable) and assist with arrangements. Students who wish to earn credits abroad must consult with and work through the coordinator. Approved courses taken as part of the study-abroad experience may, where appropriate and approved by the academic unit, apply toward university, college, and/or major-field requirements. The option of taking approved courses for graded credits and having these grades count in a student's grade-point average is also available.

Summer Programs

During the summer semester, the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences will offer many of its regular courses and will make available to students a number of courses of special and timely interest. Also, the college will offer intensive courses in areas such as French or Spanish. An intensive course may permit a student to complete one year of academic work in a specific subject within the summer semester. Consult the summer course schedule for a listing of these offerings.

Also, some of the study-abroad opportunities noted in this section are offered in the summer semester and will be listed in the course schedule.

Teacher Licensure

Secondary Licensure

Students seeking secondary-school teaching licensure are enrolled in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. They complete one of the major fields which is eligible for state certification, earn their degree from the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, and take the necessary education courses in their junior and senior years under the supervision of the College of Education and Human Services. For a listing of the academic areas eligible for state secondary certification, refer to the chapter for the College of Education and Human Services in this catalog.